


Can't Get You Out of My Head

by raven_with_a_writing_desk



Series: Can't Get You Out of My Head [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: AU - Hales are human, Derek's 3rd year, Fluff, M/M, One Shot, Stiles is first year
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-26
Updated: 2014-11-26
Packaged: 2018-02-27 03:01:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2676518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raven_with_a_writing_desk/pseuds/raven_with_a_writing_desk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Derek and Stiles meet on the train, they don't get along. At all. But fate has other ideas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Can't Get You Out of My Head

Derek is pulled – rather rudely, if he says so himself – out of sleep to the sound of someone singing terribly off-key and much too loudly for this hour of the morning. Glancing at his watch through sleep-encrusted eyes, Derek groans when he sees there’s still another 3 hours left in his train ride. Grabbing his sweater out of his bag, he tosses it over his head, hoping to drown out the song. Except the voice seems to be getting louder.

Derek gives the person another minute (which is way too generous at this hour, but he’s also way too comfortable to move yet), hoping whoever it is will stop once the song is done. After another thirty seconds, during which time Derek is starting to contemplate murder, the song ends.  
_Finally_ , he thinks, letting his eyes slip closed for a few seconds before he hears the person behind him start humming the opening guitar strands to the next song.

Sitting bolt right up, Derek gets on his knees and leans over the divider between the two rows of seats to see the guy busy pulling something out of his bag. Tapping his shoulder, Derek puts on his best death-stare as the guy – kid, almost – turns around with a small scream, tearing his headphones off as he goes.  
“What the hell man? You scared the crap out of me!” He shouts indignantly, his shocked expression quickly changing to one of annoyance.

It takes Derek a second to remember how to form words, because _holy crap_ was this guy good looking. Although a few years younger than Derek, he’s tall and lanky with dark brown hair sticking up in all directions, hazel-brown eyes, and the sort of lips that were made for kissing - but Derek pushes that thought away, - and moles scattered along the side of his face (each of which Derek wants to kiss and then go looking for more). Shaking himself, Derek fixes his glare before growling out, “You woke me up,” watching as the kid’s expression changes from annoyance to guilt.

“Oh my God! I’m so sorry! I didn’t realize anyone else was up here! The top level’s usually empty during the night rides,” the kid says, his expression changing again, this time to embarrassment. “Ugh God, I can’t believe you heard me sing, _no one’s_ supposed to hear me sing.”

“Yeah, no wonder,” Derek says with a snort. “And maybe you should actually check the floor before just assuming no one’s around next time,” he bites out, crawling back onto his seat, curling up on his bag again, and closing his eyes. He hears the guy shuffling around a bit, humming tunelessly to himself as he fiddles with something, and then the seat back squeaks before the compartment is silent once again.

-

The next time Derek wakes up is too the sound of breaks squealing as the train slows down. Yawning widely, he squints at his watch against the sunlight now coming in through the windows and sees that it’s now 6:30 in the morning. He sits up and stretches, relieved that the train is actually on time for once.

Fortunately, the guy from earlier seems to have left sometime when Derek was sleeping, taking his bag with him, which Derek is thankful for. He hadn’t been looking forward to an awkward morning encounter, although it was a pity they had gotten off on the wrong foot. It might have been worth it to get the guy’s number if things had gone better. Stretching once more, Derek grabs his bag and heads down to the doors just as the train comes to a stop.

Hailing a taxi is easy. There weren’t very many other people on the train so the station’s pretty empty as Derek makes his way over to the stand where one last cab is idling, with no one around to steal it from him. Sliding into the backseat, Derek gives the driver directions to where he’s going. Just as they’re about to pull away however, the other door opens and someone jumps in next to Derek, puffing like he’d just run across the station.

“Sorry, this cab’s –“ Derek freezes as he turns and sees who has slipped into the cab with him. It’s the terrible singer from earlier.

“Oh my God, hey! Sorry again about earlier man, I still feel so stupid. But do you mind if I share a cab? This is the last one, and who knows how long until another one comes at this hour. Where are you going?”

Derek just glares at him, still annoyed about earlier, but under the attack of the kid’s puppy-dog stare, his willpower crumbles.

“Hillcrest Boulevard.”

“Sweet, that’s on the way to my place! I’m on Leland Street,” the kid says, turning to the driver. “Can you take me there after?”

“Sure, no problem,” the cabbie says.

The kid leans back in his seat, closing his eyes and heaving out a sigh. Seeming to sense Derek’s eyes on him, he squints across the middle seat, a small smile playing at his lips.

“So, I suppose I should introduce myself. My name’s Stiles. And yes that really is a name, before you ask,” the kid – Stiles – says with a frown as Derek tries to hide his own smile. Because come on, what kind of a name is _Stiles_?

“So are you going to tell me your name?” Stiles asks once Derek manages to get his expression under control.

“I’m Derek,” he says, reaching his hand across the seat.

“Nice to meet you, Derek,” Stiles replies, shaking his hand with a lot more strength than Derek would have thought him capable of.

Stiles stares at Derek for a few more seconds and Derek can feel himself getting lost in his eyes. He could easily spend hours staring at –

“Uh, Derek? You can let go of my hand now…” Stiles says, glancing down at where Derek’s hand is still wrapped around his.

“Uh yeah. Sorry,” Derek mumbles, clearing his throat as he takes his hand back and turns to the window to hide the blush spreading across his cheeks.

They sit there in silence for a few minutes, Derek determinedly staring out the window, not really seeing what’s outside while Stiles sneaks glances at the back of his head every once in a while. Hearing a small sound behind him, Derek turns to see Stiles staring at him with his mouth open, looking like he’s on the verge of saying something, but when Derek raises an eyebrow expectantly, Stiles snaps his mouth closed, shaking his head and turning around as the tips of his ears turned red. Looking back at the window, Derek continues his internal argument.

_Ask him out._

_No way. He probably doesn’t want to date me anyway._

_You won’t know until you’ve tried it._

_Which was the logic for asking Kate out. And then she burned my apartment down when I broke it off._

_…Fair point. But he’s hot! And he seems nice._

_…Fine._

Just as Derek turns around to ask Stiles for his number and possibly a date, he feels the cab lurch to a stop outside his house.

“First stop, guys,” The cabbie calls over his shoulder.

Derek swallows down the lump of regret at missing his opportunity as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his wallet.

“Oh, don’t worry about it man. I’ll get it,” Stiles says as Derek starts pulling money out.

“I can’t make you pay all of it,” Derek protests as Stiles pushes the bills back to him.

“Seriously, this is right on the way to my place. Plus I owe you for not killing me on the train or dumping me on my ass when I jumped in here.”

“But –“

“Go before you drive the tab up even more,” Stiles says with a small smile.

Derek puts his wallet back in his pocket, opening his mouth to ask for Stiles’ number again. But when Stiles glances at him expectantly, Derek loses his nerve. Opening the door, he mutters thanks before getting out and walking up the porch steps of the house.

Entering, Derek glances around and takes in the sight of the hallway and the living room. Although he had only been gone for a few months at College, it seemed like forever since he had last stood here, saying goodbye to everyone.

Stifling a yawn, Derek drops his bag in the hall and starts heading up the stairs to his room. Unpacking can wait until he’s properly rested.

-

The next thing Derek knows, he’s being woken up by a very loud voice, yelling “Derek’s back, Derek’s back,” just before he feels a small body land on top of him. Letting out a dramatic groan, Derek rolls over in his bed and grabs the six-year-old by the waist, digging in his fingers and tickling.

“Aaaah! No, not fair! Daddy! Daddy, help me!” The boy screams as Derek moves his fingers up into his armpits, laughing and teasing.

“If you don’t want to get tickled, don’t wake people up like that Jake,” comes a voice from the doorway and suddenly Peter, Derek’s uncle, is standing in the doorway wearing pajamas and holding two cups of coffee.

“I’m sor-ry!” Jake wheezes as tears start rolling down his face from Derek’s attack.

“There’s the magic word,” Derek laughs, finally letting go of Jake, who immediately jumps off the bed and races out of the room, presumably to go do the exact same thing to every other member of the house.

“It’s good to see you again Derek,” Peter says, offering the second cup of coffee. “I figured you’d need this with my son running rampant through the house.”

Derek takes the cup with a noise of contentment and takes a sip, relishing the taste of fresh-ground coffee. Nothing in his student house could _ever_ compare to this.

Getting out of bed, Derek and Peter start heading to the door to get downstairs for breakfast.

“I thought Jake was at his mom’s this weekend.”

“He was supposed to be but she had a conference to go to, so we switched weekends. He was very excited when he found out he’d be spending all that time with you,” Peter replies with a smirk in Derek’s direction.

Derek lets out a low groan at the thought of having a six-year-old shadow for the entire weekend and Peter laughs.

-

Derek finds his mom in the kitchen making French toast, humming along to the radio. Coming up behind her, he wraps his arms around her, making her jump.

“Jesus, Derek! You scared me,” she laughs, swatting him with the spatula as she turns to hug him. “How was your semester?”

Derek shrugs, grabbing a box of strawberries and a knife, and gets to work chopping fruit.

“Wasn’t bad. I think I did well in anatomy, but according to the upper years it’s impossible to guess that mark. Math and psychology went well for sure, though, and I don’t think chemistry was too horrible. But we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Talia just hums in response, crossing the kitchen to put down a basket of fresh peaches in front of him.

“How’s everything here? Has Cora applied to any schools yet?”

Talia just snorts as she goes back to dipping the bread in the eggs and laying it on the pan. “No, of course not. You know she’ll leave it all until the last minute, like usual. Although I think she might have opened her letter regarding the application process, so it’s a start.”

“Yeah, not surprised. Although I think I sent in my applications in on the second last day and I’m doing all right,” Derek laughs. “Where are her and Laura anyway?”

“They went for a run a while ago. We thought you wouldn’t be up for a while, but they should be back soon.”

“Yes, well I had a six-year-old child jump on me this morning. No chance of falling asleep again after that,” Derek replies just as Jake runs into the kitchen, grabs a few slices of peaches, and announces that he’s woken everyone else up.

“Derek, Derek! Come play with me,” Jake yells, grabbing Derek’s hand with juice-covered fingers and tugging.

“I can’t kiddo, I’m helping my mom with breakfast.”

“Oh go with him Derek, I’ll be fine.”

“But mom –“

“Go before he knocks everything over,” Talia says with a smile at Derek and Jake, who’s still insistently pulling Derek’s hand and completely unaware of the conversation.

“Fine,” Derek grumbles, standing up, grabbing Jake, and hanging him up-side-down by his ankles. “Come on you monkey.”

Jakes squeals in delight and starts swatting at Derek’s shins, demanding to get put down.

-

A few minutes later Derek’s on the ground playing with Jake while Peter’s sitting on the couch reading the paper when Laura and Cora finally get back.

“Derek! Hey,” Cora shouts, launching herself at him and grabbing him in a hug. Laura comes up behind her sister with a smile and waves at Derek over Cora’s back.

“Hey Cora! I missed you too,” he says with a laugh as Cora lets go and steps away so Laura can get a hug.

“Hey Derek,” she says, giving him a tight hug before standing up again.

“I’m gonna go shower and then you have to tell me how school was,” Laura says, already backing towards the stairs.

Oh no you don’t,” Cora retorts, and turns to run up the stairs, Laura hot on her heels, both squabbling over who gets first shower just as Derek’s dad and older brother come down.

“Aw man, he’s back? Who invited him back,” Derek’s brother asks, as he and their dad go to hug Derek.

“Chris, be nice to your brother,” their father says, releasing Derek and stepping aside so Chris can hug him.

“Yeah Chris, be nice to your brother,” Derek mocks, thumping his brother on the back before letting go. “How was your semester at Palo Alto?”

“Meh. Think it went well. I’m really just looking forward to finally being finished. Four years of college is too many. Yours?”

“It’s been good. Glad to have a break, but I can’t believe I’m almost three years in.”

“Yeah it definitely goes by fast,” Chris agrees as they walk into the kitchen where Talia is just finishing the last of the French toast.

“Don’t even think about touching those Daniel James Hale,” Talia warns, grabbing her husband’s hand where it hovers over the massive bowl of sliced fruit. “Breakfast is almost ready and I don’t need you spoiling your appetite.”

“But mo-om,” Chris whines grabbing the orange juice out of the fridge and pouring himself a glass, “we’re hungry. We’re wasting away to nothing. You need to give us food.”

“Fine,” Talia responds, fixing her older son with a glare. “You can eat now and miss out on the bacon, or you can wait like civilized people until the girls are ready to join us.”

Derek snickers at his brother’s horrified expression at the thought of missing the bacon. Turning to glare at him, Chris quietly flicks orange juice at Derek when their mother’s back is turned.

-

Twenty minutes later – with a lot of whining from Chris, Derek, and Jake – and finally Laura and Cora are downstairs and everyone’s seated at the table, passing dishes around.

“So Derek, how’s school going,” Daniel asks after a few minutes of all of them eating in silence.

“Meet anyone special?” Cora says slyly from across the table, eyes widening as Derek starts to blush from the implication. “Oh my God, you did! I can’t believe you met someone and didn’t tell me! Are they cute? How’d you –“

“Cora,” Talia cuts her off with a stern look. “Is it any wonder why he didn’t tell you when you just bombard him with questions the moment he does?”

“I was just asking,” Cora grumbles, taking a sip of her coffee. “Anyways, where’d you meet him?”

“On the train home. And then we took a cab together.” Derek mutters, keeping his eyes on his plate.

“Oooh a local boy. What’s his name?” Laura asks through a mouthful of food as Chris snickers from beside Derek.

“Uh… Stiles. Apparently that’s an actual name.”

“Oh my God. Stiles as in like… Stiles Stilinski?” Cora demands in a shocked voice.

“Uh, not sure. I didn’t get a last name. But how many people in this town could be named Stiles,” Derek replies as Peter rolls his eyes at him.  
“Of course you didn’t. You have a knack for asking out the crazy ones and avoiding all the normal ones. It’s practically a talent,” he says, ignoring the glares both Talia and Derek send him.

“Yes, thank you for the input, Uncle Peter,” Laura snaps, handing a napkin to Jake, who’s currently making airplane sounds while waving a piece of French toast around. “Anyways, I believe Cora was saying something,” she finishes with a significant look at Cora.

“Yeah, so if it’s who I’m thinking of – which it probably is, since as you said there can’t be many people named Stiles living here – he’s a friend of Erica’s. They work together at the Starbucks on Main.”

Derek just stares at Cora in stunned silence. When he had left the cab last night, he had accepted that he probably wouldn’t see Stiles again. Yes he had regretted not getting his number, but he’d shrugged it off – it’s not like he could fix it. But now he knew who Stiles was and had a chance to meet him again.

“Derek, close your mouth, you’re gaping,” Talia tells him, a smile on her face.

“Oh mom, leave him alone. He’s in _lo-ve_ ,” Chris sing-songs, grinning at Derek, who socks him in the shoulder.

“Chris! Don’t tease him. Derek, don’t hit you’re brother,” Daniel tells them, giving his sons a stern look.

Derek snaps himself out of it, turning back to Cora. “The Starbucks on Main you said?” At Cora’s nod, Derek pushes himself up from the table and is halfway to the living room to get his laptop when his mom calls him back.

“Derek where are you going?”

“Um… to go find the number to the Starbucks?” He half-asks, continuing to inch towards the living room.

“No. You can get it after breakfast with your family that you haven’t seen in four months.”

“But –“

“Derek, you can wait thirty minutes for everyone to finish. Now come back to the table,” Daniel cuts in.

Derek harumphs before slinking back to the table and taking his seat as Chris and Peter smirk at him.

-

The next while passes by in a blur, with Derek’s mind still stuck on the fact that he now knows how to find Stiles. Finally, after what feels like forever, people start getting up and clearing off the table.

“Derek? Hey, Earth to Derek. Derek!”

Derek shakes out of his reverie, looking over at Cora.

“Finally. Can you help me clear the table,” she asks, handing him a stack of plates.

“Uh, yeah sure, sorry,” he mumbles, feeling a blush creeping up his cheeks.

Walking into the kitchen, Derek puts down the dishes and turns to see Cora standing behind him on her phone.

“I just heard back from Erica. Apparently Stiles works this evening from 4 – 10.”

“Uh... what?” Derek asks, shooting Cora a confused look.

Cora just shrugs, putting her phone away and looking up at Derek. “I figured it’d be less awkward for you if you didn’t have to call the Starbucks in front of everyone. Especially Uncle Peter. Plus, I knew you’d get nervous and back out.”

“I would not!” Derek exclaims indignantly.

Cora just raises an eyebrow. “You’ve literally turned down six people in the last year and you told me about three different people you were interested in through the semester that you never asked out because you were too worried about it not working out.”

Derek just stands there staring at her for a minute, trying to think of something to say, but he’s been rendered speechless. After a few seconds, she huffs, rolling her eyes before turning and walking to the door. Before leaving however, she turns back to Derek and fixes him with a firm look saying, “You’re going to go pick up Stiles after his shift and take him out on a date. And then you’re going to come home and tell me all about it,” before leaving.

Derek just stands there staring after his sister before heaving a sigh and loading the dirty plates in the dishwasher.

-

By the time evening arrives, Derek’s had to escape the house three times to get away from his family’s incessant nagging and teasing. Sitting in the library a few blocks away, Derek checks his watch, and seeing that it’s nearly seven, gets up and heads home for dinner.

Walking in the house, Chris pokes his head in, smirking when he sees Derek standing in the hall taking off his shoes and jacket.

“Hey, Romeo’s back,” He calls over his shoulder, leaning against the doorframe. “So have you gone and talked to him yet? Or are you still too scared?

Derek just walks by, refusing to answer or even look at his brother, but just as he’s passing where Chris is leaning, Derek shoves him, sending his brother sprawling on the tiled floor of the front hall with an indignant squawk.

“Dude, that is so not cool! Mom, Derek shoved me!” he calls, standing up and rubbing his elbow where it smacked against the floor.

“And I’m sure you probably deserved it,” Talia says, coming around the corner. “Now both of you get washed up and then start setting the table. Dinner will be ready in ten minutes.”

“Where’s everyone else?” Derek asks, following his mom into the kitchen and grabbing the dish soap.

Talia swats it out of his hands, giving him the bottle of hand soap instead. “Laura took Jake to the park and Cora, Peter, and Daniel are playing poker downstairs,” Talia responds, handing Derek a giant bowl of mashed potatoes and another one filled with salad. “Now go put those on the table and text your sister to get home now if she wants to eat.”

-

Derek can barely concentrate through dinner, mostly just staring at his plate, occasionally glancing up and saying a few words when someone addresses him, but he’s too nervous to focus. This is the first time since breaking up with Kate that Derek’s actually willing to put himself out there and take a risk with someone again. And that scares the hell out of him.

After dinner, Derek manages to pull himself together slightly, or at least enough to function somewhat like a human. He manages to shower and put on clothes before looking at himself in the mirror and taking them off. And doing it again. And again.

Finally, when he’s on his fourth outfit, there’s a quiet knock on his door and Laura comes into the room and sits on his bed, looking over all the discarded outfits.

“Nervous?”

“You could say that,” Derek manages to get out, giving a weak laugh.

“Don’t be. You’ll do fine,” she responds, getting off the bed and moving to Derek’s closet. “From what Cora told me, Stiles is a very nice, funny person. And pretty good looking too. And apparently he’s actually quite normal. Well, at least compared to Kate –“ Laura stops suddenly, turning to look at Derek who has a pained expression on his face.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that. But seriously Derek, you’ll be fine. And you should wear this,” she finishes, pulling out a deep green V-neck shirt. “It goes with your eyes,” she adds when Derek looks at it skeptically.

Sighing, Derek takes off the shirt he’s currently wearing and tries on the green one. Looking in his mirror, he has to agree with his sister. This is probably the best shirt he could wear.

“Looks good, bro,” Chris says from the doorway, making both Laura and Derek jump. “Anyway, I came by to ask if you want to borrow my car. It’ll make you seem at least slightly cool,” Chris finishes, laughing at Derek’s surprised expression.

Clearing his throat, Derek manages to get out, “yeah, that’d be great. Thanks,” before checking his phone, and upon seeing that it was already 9:30, begins panicking.

“Oh my God, I have to go. I don’t know if I can do this, holy shit, -“

“Woah, Derek look at me,” Laura cuts in, grabbing her brother by the arm and tugging. When Derek finally manages to face her, she gives him a determined look, saying, “You are going to be fine. You’re going to go meet Stiles and surprise him with a great date and have a great time. Understand?”

At Derek’s nod, she lets go of his arm, muttering “good,” as she pushes him out of the room and down the stairs with Chris trailing behind.

Reaching the front door, Derek takes the proffered keys from Chris, hugs Laura, and leaves.

-

Derek’s pretty sure he breaks at least a couple traffic laws on his way there – thank God he doesn’t get pulled over because Chris would have literally killed him – and then suddenly he’s parked out front of the Starbucks, looking in and seeing only two people left, both of whom are standing behind the counter. Derek isn’t sure if Stiles is in there, as both have their backs turned, when suddenly one of them turns around and Derek can see the hair sticking up in all directions and can even pick out the moles on Stiles’ face. Letting out a huge breath, he slowly opens the car with shaking hands and, crossing to the entrance of the Starbucks, hesitantly pulls open the door.

Neither Stiles nor the other barista look up as the bell goes off, but the other one does say, “We’re closed now. Just cleaning up,” while Stiles continues singing along to the radio.

Taking a second, Derek let’s his eyes wander over Stiles’ body, still unable to believe that he’s actually _here_ and that Derek found him.

“Dude, we’re closed. You have to –“ Stiles cuts off with a shocked sound and Derek watches his eyes widen as he breathes “oh my God.”

The other barista still hasn’t turned around, seemingly immersed in whatever it is he’s doing, but his head finally comes up when Derek speaks.

“Has anyone ever told you you’re singing is horrible?” He asks, a grin starting to form on his face.

“Yeah actually, some asshole told me just this morning on the train. Thankfully he also agreed to share a cab with me so that made it up.”

“Mmm, well maybe next time you sing loudly, you should make sure no one else is around to suffer. Especially at three in the morning,” Derek says fighting down a laugh.

“Is that why you didn’t ask for my number? Because of my singing?” Stiles asks, pretending to be offended, which isn’t easy when he’s grinning from ear to ear.

“Oh my God,” the other barista says, finally paying attention. “This is the guy you told me about from the train home. Derek something. Holy shit.” The he fixes Derek with a glare, moving to stand beside Stiles. “Should I be concerned about how you knew where to find Stiles?”

“Scott, chill out buddy. Don’t go scaring off the closest thing I’ve had to a date since September,” Stiles pouts, glancing at Scott.

“Don’t worry, I’m not a creepy stalker. My sister Cora figured out who you were when I told her your name. She’s a friend of Erica’s.”

“Well then. Now that I know you’re not a stalker and probably not a murderer if you’re Cora’s brother, my duties as the best friend are done. Go have fun you two. I’ll finish closing here,” Scott says, waving him off as Stiles starts protesting.

“You covered for me when I stayed at Allison’s last weekend. I owe you. And we’re almost done anyways,” he says, pushing Stiles towards the end of the counter.

Huffing, Stiles walks around the counter, muttering thanks to Scott as he passes. Walking up to Derek, he gives a small smile before slowly reaching for Derek’s hand and entwining their fingers. When Derek squeezes his fingers instead of pulling away, Stiles’ smile widens before he turns and starts walking with Derek out the door for their first of many dates.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, my first Teen Wolf fic! Woo hoo! Let me know what you think. I'm also thinking of possibly-maybe doing a companion piece of the story from Stiles' point of view. That's probably going to be based on the feedback I get though, so let me know if you want it.


End file.
